In order to monetize from its blogging platform, Tumblr has launched sponsored trending blogs for its mobile app. The sponsored ad sections will currently be available for brands like Twentieth Century Fox, Calvin Klein, Turner Broadcasting, Sony Pictures Entertainment etc.

The participating brands will get an opportunity to put their blogs at the forefront of what’s hot on Tumblr within a feed of the most popular blogs of the day. The feature is currently in beta, and as per TNW, it will be launched officially in January.

Apple patents facial recognition technology for improved user privacy

According to Apple insider, the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple the patent for “Personal computing device control using face detection and recognition” in order to increase the security of user devices by facial recognition and automated controls.

The patent involves a face detection decision application; a face recognition application; and an input/output control application. The technology will be installed in both its phones and computing devices, and will enable accurate user authentication for securing the user data and device.

PayPal unveils digital gift store selling iTunes vouchers

PayPal has launched a digital gift store, currently selling iTunes gift cards to its US-based customers. Although only iTunes based gift coupons are available as of now, the company says that it will add more varieties soon.

A person needs to have a PayPal account to buy from the gift store, but the recipient need not have one. To buy a coupon, one needs to log into their PayPal account, select the gift, pay using PayPal and enter recipient’s e-mail address to complete the transaction.

The photo-sharing app Viewfinder, has been acquired by Square, a mPOS startup. The terms of the deal has been left undisclosed. The Viewfinder team will work on Square’s seller initiatives out of its New York office, and will work on company’s expansion.

Viewfinder, existing users will still be able to use the existing version of the app for the time being. The announcement was made on Tuesday by both the companies.

Twitter introduces better ad re-targeting with ‘Tailored Audiences’

Twitter has announced global release of its custom ads product- Tailored Audiences. In July, it had launched a preview of the same, to offer better visibility to advertisers on its website, in private beta, and has now released the same for all.

This tool will let advertisers and marketers define their audience groups and get Twitter to show these customers relevant ads. Twitter says that this product makes sure that ads are super relevant to the user and thus will not be intrusive.

In May 2015, Google reported that it received more search queries on mobile devices than on desktop devices. The shift has incentivized Google to reward websites that render well on mobile devices. App development companies are scaling up their infrastrcture and delivivery capability to meet up the demand.

Author:

Sugandh Dhawan

Sugandh Dhawan is one of the co-founders of iamwire. To contact her, write to sugandh@iamwire.com....